Always
by MagicalCaitie31
Summary: Travel through the enticing life of Severus Snape and watch as he develops a love for Lily Evans and be here as he struggles with hard decisions that may change life for everyone forever.
1. Spinners End

Chapter 1: Spinners End

From the day Severus Tobias Snape was born, his parents knew he was special. The first time Severus laughed on that cold January day, he made it snow indoors. His mother Eileen thought it charming but his father was not pleased.

"Make that ridiculousness cease at once! What would our neighbors think if they saw it snowing indoors Eileen?" Severus' father Tobias growled.

They lived in the most normal part of Midlands, England. They lived on a cozy street named Spinners End. Spinners End was located in a small town named Cokeworth. The town was so small that it wasn't located anywhere on a muggle map. Tobias had no idea he was living in a magical neighborhood.

Tobias Snape was a gruff man who hated anything to do with magic. No one thought that he'd have ended up marrying his wife Eileen, had he known that she was 'one of those magic folk'. He hadn't discovered that she was a witch until after they were married. She broke the news to him after she had found out they were expecting their first child. How could he avoid noticing that strange things happened whenever his wife sneezed, belched or passed gas? At one point, she sneezed bubbles out of her nose. I won't even go into detail about the incident when she passed gas.

Severus sprouted like a weed. When the time came for his first birthday, Eileen ran to Diagon Alley to purchase his first broom. He was not a very good flier but he would not stop trying. Watching Sev fly was one of the only magical things Tobias took pride in. He would crack a smile whenever he saw his son zoom past.

The years that Severus saw his father smile were few and far between. It seemed that a grimace was perpetually stuck on his fathers face. He tried so hard to please Tobias. Before his parents knew it Sev had grown into a four year old boy with jet black hair that always seemed to look greasy no matter how many cleaning spells they used on it. His eyes were curiously black as well.

Everything was fine until they took a trip to an underground aquarium on his 6th birthday. Severus accidently made a hole in the glass while trying to pet the fish. Eileen noticed right away and knew just how to fix it without the surrounding muggles noticing.

"Reparo." She muttered. The hole instantly sealed itself leaving only a few droplets of water on the floor. Sev giggled and reached out to touch the glass again only to have his hand smacked.

"No." Tobias chastised. "Do NOT touch."

Sev looked up at his father perplexed. He didn't understand what he had done. His lip began to tremble.

"Tobias. A word please?"

Eileen glanced down into her son's face and at his quivering lip with tear filled eyes. She began to feel a burning hot rage ignite in the pits of her stomach. How dare this pitiful man make her son cry?

"Now." She growled at her husband.

Tobias met her steely glare with a cold look of his own. Slowly, he turned and stalked through the crowds of people back to their car in the parking lot. He unlocked the doors and got in without a word.

Eileen buckled Sev into the backseat, kissed his forehead, wiped his eyes and shut the door.

"You listen to me Tobias Alan Snape. You EVER lay another hand on my son, I will do things to you that are unimaginable in the muggle world. I will hex you into oblivion. My great grandmother made a man into stew for less. Are we clear?" Eileen's eyes flashed like lightning as she waited for his reply.

"I will not have that boy doing such dirty things, Eileen."

"That does NOT give you the right to strike him! Ever!"

Severus was puzzled as to why his parents were arguing. He glanced over and saw the blue stuffed squid his mother had purchased from the aquarium for him. He grasped it and shut his eyes wishing that time would stop. The sound of his parents yelling at each other was scaring him.

Slowly, He opened his eyes to see his parents facing each other. He glanced up into his mothers face and cried out in fear. She looked really angry. Peeling his eyes away from her, he looked into his fathers face and saw a look he didn't understand. Was it anger? Was it something else entirely? He didn't know.

He unbuckled himself with some difficulty and climbed up into the center console. He reached up to touch Tobias' cheek and strokes it savoring the warmth.

"Daddy." He mumbles when he pulls his hand away. "I wuv you daddy."

Sev climbs off the center console and into his fathers lap. He yawns hugely and curls up against his fathers chest. His eyes begin to drift shut.

"Please don't fight Mummy and Daddy." He mutters just before falling asleep. The sound of their arguing comes back for a second and then falters.

"Severus wha-?" Tobias and Eileen say at the same time.

"He loves you Tobias. He loves you so very much and I don't even think you realize it. He knows that you're ashamed of him. He's trying to win your love and you're too bloody blind to see it."

"I don't mean to be ashamed of him. I don't want to be ashamed of him but my father ingrained in me that anyone or anything magical was freakish. I realize he's my son but I just can't get my father's voice out of my head calling the magic folk a freak. He was one of the only ones in our family that was not magical. He hated the magic folk because the witches and wizards in our family were vile to him about his being a muggle. When I was born they completely cast him and my mother out. My mother was also a muggle. I've never met either of my grandparents on my dads side. My mothers parents looked down on the magic folk as well. I was raised in a very anti magic family. I've never told you Eileen because I hated myself for being ashamed of Severus and being ashamed of having married you." A tear leaks out of his eyes.

Eileen casts her eyes down on Severus and sees the disgruntled look on his sleeping face.

"All he wants is your love." She whispers tearfully.

Tobias gently picks him up off of his lap and climbs out of the car around to his car seat. He sets him into his seat, buckles him back up and places a blanket over his sleeping son. He leans down to kiss his son on the forehead and feels the boy's small arms wrap around his neck.

"I wuv you daddy. Pwease say you wuv me." Sev mumbles sleepily while rubbing his eyes.

"Sev. I do love you. At least I'm trying to. I'm sorry for being horrid. I hope one day you'll understand when you're older."

That was the only time Severus could remember his father saying the words I love you. He kept trying to win his fathers acceptance and love but it seemed to fail every time something magical happened.


	2. Lily

* _Disclaimer: All character names and the song IE The Sorting Hat Song are not my own. The names and Song were created by J.K. Rowling.*_

Chapter 2: Lily

When Sev got older he never spent his days at home. He spent them at the park down the street. Shortly after his ninth birthday, he met a girl named Lily Evans. She had beautiful red hair and green eyes. He spotted her from afar swinging on the swing set. There was another girl beside her who looked nothing like her. He could only assume they were more than just acquaintances with how they interacted. They were laughing and swinging as high as they could, giggling gleefully. He began to smile as he watched Lily try to reach up into the clouds and grab a piece of the fluff and laugh even more when she couldn't quite get any.

Carefully, Severus started to get closer. First, he approached the merry go round. He sat there for awhile and just watched, laughing as they laughed and smiling when they smiled. Lily jumped out of the swing set and stumbled as she landed giggling. Soon after Lily's sister came tumbling. They both laughed heartily until one sister nudged the other noticing Severus watching them. Stopping their laughing abruptly Lily and her sister came walking over.

"Petunia, be nice please." The red haired girl pleaded.

"Why should I? This freak has been spying on us this whole time." The girl named Petunia spat.

The red haired girl pushed past her sister and stepped forward.

"My name is Lily Evans. This is my sister Petunia. She doesn't mean any harm really." Lily held out her hand for Severus to shake. Severus grasped it uncertainly and shook it.

"I'm Severus Snape." He said.

"What kind of freakish name is that?" Petunia responded. "Why'd your parents name you that?"

"Petunia! Stop it! You're being horrible." Lily was beginning to look angry.

Sev was slowly stepping back. He was beginning to thing that this was a very bad idea. He should never have come to this park and sat for this long.

Petunia was a medium height, lanky girl with curly brown hair. Lily was the complete opposite. She had bright red hair with a short stature. There didn't seem to be much meat on her bones if any. Their attitudes seemed to be opposites as well. Severus didn't think he liked Petunia very much. Petunia was foul and vaguely reminded him of his father. She was an obvious magic hater. He decided that they wouldn't get along very well right off.

"What are you staring at you pillock?" Petunia sneered.

"PETUNIA!" Lily reprimanded.

Petunia ignored her and began to strut away. After a pitying glance at Severus, Lily ran to follow. He could hear their angry voices as they walked away. With a huff he sat on the swing set. At first he felt angry himself, angry at Petunia's words, angry at her for sounding like his idiot of a father. Shortly after his surge of anger, an image of Lily flashed in his mind. Her red hair. Her charming smile. How beautiful she looked next to the daisies growing in the playground. He wanted her to come back. He shook his head as if to clear the thoughts out of his mind but they didn't work. What did happen was that the swing next to him began to move as if someone were swinging in the opposite direction from him. He glanced over and smirked imagining it was her.

A few hours passed and the sun began to set. He decided that he had to get home but dreaded seeing his father in a state that was sure to be awaiting him. Drunk and angry. When he opened the door and glanced into the living room he spotted his father sitting in a gray, tatty recliner filled with holes and missing fabric. His father was fully reclined with his feet propped up, beer hanging from his hand and seemingly entranced in the mind-numbing television program he was watching. Sev inched the door shut and began to tiptoe to the stairs. After a few steps, he hit a creak in the floor. He stopped midstep, frozen in place, hoping that his father had not heard him. Severus heard the pop of the footrest on the recliner being shut and the twang of body weight being lifted from the seat. His father had heard him and was getting up. He tried to remain calm until he smelt the bitter smell of spirits in the near vicinity.

"Where 'ave you been?" Tobias asked.

"I- I've been at the park. Playing, sir." Severus stuttered.

"Didn't you have chores to do or something? That magic ain't gonna get everything done for you boy. Useless. Out of my sight! GO!" Tobias screamed.

The smell of the liquor was extremely overwhelming for a second as his father was inches from his face. Severus scrambled to be out of sight as fast as he could. He ran to his Mothers room. He sighed as he spotted his mother lying in bed. She had been sick for a few months now. Tobias was unwilling to enter the room as he hated seeing her in such a frail body and had to turned to drink for solace. He had become a drunk shortly after Eileen was diagnosed with Gitelman Syndrome as well as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Severus lit up at the sight of his mother. On her left sat a nightstand full of bottles that she had been prescribed by muggle doctors as well as potions from the wizarding world. They helped sometimes but Eileen still had her relapses that Tobias just could not stand to watch. Severus didn't quite know the severity of his mothers sickness until the first day that she was confined to her bed and couldn't move without being in severe pain. He went to the bed and curled around his mother. She was the only safety he had from Tobias.

"Where have you been all day my love?" She asked kissing his forehead.

"I went to the park and met two girls. One reminded me of Dad. She was horrible. She called me a pillock. Mum, what's a pillock?" Sev asked curiously.

"Something you are not. I don't ever want to hear you respond to that word, call anyone else that word or even think that word is even the slightest bit true for you."

"But Mum, what does it mean?" He peered up into her face questioningly to find that she was wincing in pain with a slightly angry look etched into her features.

"It means idiot. You are far from an idiot my son. You will be the brightest wizard in all of your class at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Eileen breathed.

Severus smiled up at his mother scooting closer. He was already practically in her lap. She chuckled and began humming softly. Sev craned his head to hear her better and looked uncertain as to what she was humming exactly.

"What are you humming Mum?" He questioned.

She smiled down at him and stroked his head, smoothing the stray black locks. "At Hogwarts, any time a new child comes to the school there's an old hat that sings a song. It's called the Sorting Song. It explains the different houses at the school."

Severus was giddy with excitement. He loved hearing about Hogwarts. His mothers story's about the school never ceased to calm him after an encounter with his drunken father.

"What house were you in Mum?"

"I was a Slytherin." She explained proudly. "Best house I could've ever been sorted into. Your Gran and Gramps were also Slytherins. We have generations of them. A few Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors and Ravenclaws in the family as well though so if you aren't sorted as a Slytherin, don't be disappointed my love."

"But I want to be a Slytherin just like you!" He screeched. "Sing me the sorting song?"

She grinned and began softly, every word resonating through the house. Tobias hadn't heard her sing in years. He set down his beer bottle and listened as he slowly walked up the stairs to stand in the doorway of the room. Eileen smiled as Tobias' eyes began to fill with tears. He traipsed over to the bed taking her hand and smiled at the sight of his wife in the way he once knew before she became ill.

" _Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

 _But don't judge on what you see,_

 _I'll eat myself if you can find_

 _A smarter hat than me._

 _You can keep your bowlers black,_

 _Your top hats sleek and tall,_

 _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

 _And I can cap them all._

 _There's nothing hidden in your head_

 _The sorting hat can't see,_

 _So try me on and I will tell you_

 _Where you ought to be._

 _You might belong in Gryffindor,_

 _where dwell the brave at heart,_

 _Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

 _Set Gryffindors apart;_

 _You might belong on Hufflepuff,_

 _Where they are just and loyal,_

 _Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

 _And unafraid of toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

 _If you've a ready mind,_

 _Where those of wit and learning,_

 _Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin_

 _You'll make your real friends,_

 _Those cunning folk use any means_

 _To achieve their ends._

 _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

 _And don't get in a flap!_

 _You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

 _For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

Severus smiled up at his mother. His eyes had suddenly become filled with lead. Just before he drifted to sleep, his eyes spied his father pecking his mother on the mouth. It was a moment that would forever be imprinted in his memories.


End file.
